Unbelievable

I am a lot more confident of us beating Fenerbahce than us beating AZ, so the Turks for me..

Are you watching the game on Dutch tv NUFC06? rt7 Didn´t know you were from NL? Or are you watching over the Internet somehow?

I actually agree with you on this one. Robinson was very good before his current form dip. There is no reason as yet to suspect he will not come back to his former levels. Just goes to show how short people's memories are when a good player loses form. Strangely, when a lesser player has hit a good patch of form and then doesn´t play for years on end people still rate him based on that short patch of good form.. Harper anyone?

Are you watching the game on Dutch tv NUFC06?

3-3! Great goal! Very good match too. Really enjoyable.. I think both these teams can cause us problems..

3-2 now.. Good goal Tuncay..

Second wasn't to sniff at either.. I think we have a tough job on our hands, providing we even manage to pass the next hurdle..

3-1 now.. finished I guess?

2-1 AZ good goal Boukhari.. Looks like we know our next opponents if we beat Zulte

AZ almost scored a wondergoal just before HT 1-1 HT now

Fener hit the post..

1-1 Fenerbahce after 30 mins

I think Roeder dosen't know what he is. He was fine for us playing as DM last season. I agree. Things have gone downhill from the moment Roeder has come out and wanted him to play as a box-to-box midfielder, totally ignoring the fact this would completely unbalance our midfield setup.

Trabelsi and Sorin are both just 30. They would have sorted out our full back positions for years. Nothing short term about them.. Sol Campbell on current form looks good for another two-three seasons of service as well..

Well, judging by the first couple of reactions it seems to actually appease some of our fans, astonishingly..

Actions speak louder than words as they say..

Makes you wonder what he's been up to these past couple of months. Has he just woken up only to realise another transfer window has passed?

It's not just me though, it's most of the Ajax fans too.. What you fail to understand is that my view of him is based on what I've seen of him, which is much more than most of you. I am not too big to acknowledge a player of a rival club is a good player when he is, but don't expect me to get all excited at the prospect of paying over the odds for a mediocre player. Your reference to Martins is very convenient as he has been doing well at the moment, but these are the same scouts that saw potential in many of our flops in recent years.. As far as I know Wenger has never commented on him, and Van Basten is an idiot with rose tinted glasses when it comes to Ajax players. Roeder's comments I'll take for granted if you don't mind..

I didn't day that, did I? Do you believe that he is the new Henry because Marco van Basten said so? I was asking a question not having a go at you! I don't really know how good the lad is thats why I was asking someone who might know a bit more (ie you). OK, fair enough. I think he has decent speed and a strong shot, especially with his left foot, but he lacks ball control, creativity and lucidity in front of goal. He is a decent player, but not destined for the top as far as I can see. I think there's been a hype created around him that's attracted us and other clubs. This seems to happen all the time when a new ajax player breaks on the scene. In some cases there is genuinly something there (Van der Vaart for example), in most cases there isn't and they fade away as quickly as they came. I'm concerned at us taking a chance we can't afford based on the hype created by an incompetent national manager and rumours of an interest by Arsenal because Van Persie is one of his mates..

You could say the same for Babayaro. The fact that he was picked for the national team after no more than 135 minutes of first team action could suggest he is an awesome player or it could suggest the Dutch manager doesn't know what he's doing. I've seen enough of him as a player and MvB as a manager to know where my money is.. It's a bit like Eriksson and Walcott: his selection for the World Cup wasn't exactly based on his on the pitch performances was it? Oh, and don't start saying Walcott has potential so Babel must have too..

I didn't day that, did I? Do you believe that he is the new Henry because Marco van Basten said so?

If you're one of the people that have seen most of him, I'll produce as Exhibit A the fact that you rate Luque as good enough reason to disregard your opinion. Look at it this way.. Luque was a good player before he joined us and was never given the chance to prove himself. Babel isn't a good player to start with. What makes you think he will do OK for us? Okay... so because Karate_Kuyt doesn't rate Babel, while the likes of Wenger, van Basten and Roeder clearly do (to varying extents), we shouldn't sign him? I thought Sibierski was pure shite before we bought him, but he's done fairly well. I thought Duff was ace before we signed him and he hasn't done much of anything at all, yet. Transfers aren't an exact science, there isn't "right" or "wrong" and none of us know for sure how things will turn out, so it's ridiculous for you to be so against signing someone based on nowt but your personal opinion of the bloke. What!? So saying you wouldn't want for example Matthew Etterington here is a ridiculous thing to say because he might do well here, as highly improbable as it is? I remember when Everton signed Andy van der Meijde and we were interested or according to some fans should have been in for him I also said we shouldn't bother. Look at what he's done.. It's not because they're from the Ajax academy they're necessarily superstars.. In the case of Babel, most of their fans say bite their hands off at the quoted 5 million. That should tell you something as well..

If the Ireland manager came out and said Alan O'Brien is the new Arjen Robben (the comparison based on pace and nothing else) and fans on a foreign fan board were getting all excited at the prospect of signing him, would you tell them he's certainly going to make it at the top level or would you tell them not to bother (if it wasn't in Newcastle's interest of course to sell him)?

If you're one of the people that have seen most of him, I'll produce as Exhibit A the fact that you rate Luque as good enough reason to disregard your opinion. Look at it this way.. Luque was a good player before he joined us and was never given the chance to prove himself. Babel isn't a good player to start with. What makes you think he will do OK for us?

Oh no.. The two people on this board who've seen most of him are not impressed by him, yet everybody else is jumping with joy because the Van Basten has once likened him to Henry: a ridiculous comparision by all accounts and perfectly understandable if you look at many other strange decisions and comments MvB has made in his tenure as Holland manager..